


A Knee in the Gut

by siempreniall



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Break Up, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-15
Updated: 2013-03-15
Packaged: 2017-12-05 09:43:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/721628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siempreniall/pseuds/siempreniall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall's knee is messed up and Liam's still heartbroken over his breakup. While they're both at their neediest they give the other what he needs most - help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Knee in the Gut

“I’m not getting up!” Niall yelled from the couch as he heard three sharp raps at the door.

Liam peeked inside and Niall’s face immediately lit up at the sight of it.

“Leemo! You’re here!”

Liam walked over to the cripple lounging on the sofa and gave him the biggest hug manageable. It’s not the easiest thing to cuddle someone lying down.

“I just thought I’d drop by, you know. Bring some yummies. Offer help to the toilet,”

“I’m not dense I know my ma’s been organizing some kind of “take care of Niall while I can’t” schedule thing. My friends keep coming over, and then after they leave someone’s by in less than 5 minutes,”

“Well if it makes you feel any better I’ve signed up for a double shift so I’m yours for a while, babe. Anything you need?”

“A nice cold one, if you could,”

“Ha, no. Maura told me not to let you have alcohol. It’ll mix poorly with your meds. Doctor’s orders!” Liam recited as he filled two glasses with water from the tap.

“How bad could it possibly be for you to drink just one beer…”

“No!” Liam yelled as he brought over a glass of water. Niall dutifully began sipping on it.

“So I brought you some food because I figured you’d be starving. I got some roast and potatoes at Tesco’s and I picked up a pint…of ice cream!”

Niall didn’t laugh at the joke.

“Aulright, mate? You always laugh at my dumb jokes. No matter how dumb they are,” asked Liam.

“Honestly, I’m not even hungry,”

Liam did a fake surprised face.

“Do you wanna just put a movie on and watch me fall asleep? Sorry man, I’m just really tired,”

“Niall if you think I’m here just because I’m bored then you’re just a big dumbo. What do you wanna watch? You know I’m up for anything,”

“ _The Godfather_ ’s already in. Just press play,”

Liam did as he was told and soon the previews were rolling. He didn’t really like this movie, but he had lost how many times he had watched it with Niall already.

“Shit, where should I sit?” he asked. Niall had taken up the entire couch and there wasn’t any extra chairs sitting around.

“What are ya, dumb?” Niall asked as he raised his body up. Liam quickly sat down in the spot that had been created for him, but scolded Niall for exerting too much effort. Niall’s head fell back down onto Liam’s lap, as Liam placed a pillow under it.

Niall slowly fell asleep to the sounds of gun shots and yelling Italian men, but Liam’s mind was on other things. Mainly Danielle.

He thought of her curls and the way she moved through life like she was always dancing. He thought of her accent and how her lips looked when she whispered to him from across crowded rooms. He thought of her laugh and how her fingers traced the lines on his hands when she was bored and how good her ass looked in yoga pants. He thought of the words she haphazardly threw out the last time they saw each other.

It had been a while since they broke up. It had been a lot of little things building up to bigger things, and they never talked about any of them. He should’ve known something was wrong in their relationship when the communication, which had once been a strongpoint, broke down. He could never remember being as angry as he was in the days surrounding their breakup. The boys were a great help as always, but he felt as if he was just putting off actually feeling his emotions. They always snuck back up to him at really inconvenient times like when was in line for the register at Tesco’s or walking down a random road by his flat or when Danielle called him earlier that day.

She had left a box of her dancewear in one of his closets. He knew that, but he had been putting off calling her. Excuses were always made like “It’s too late” and “I’ve got to run to the bank before I forget” and “If I call her I’m going to cry” so it should have been no surprise that she would notice the missing clothes and call him first.

When she had called earlier that morning Liam refused to answer. He had already deleted her number from his contacts in a sort of juvenile act of anger but he could recognize that number from anywhere. As expected, she left a message.

“Hey, it’s me. I’ve left some clothes in your upstairs closet. I need them back, preferably quickly. Get back to me soon,” she said. There was no anger in voice, but no love either.

He waited a few minutes so it wasn’t so obvious that he was screening her call, although he was sure she knew, and texted her back. It was a quick one about how he was going over to Niall’s place but she could come by after. He’d call and tell her when he was home. After sending he immediately called up Harry and asked if Liam could take his shift as well. All Liam wanted to do was avoid going home for as long as possible.

He caught himself staring off into space and saw that half an hour of the movie had already gone by. He had also been absent-mindedly rubbing Niall’s arm with his thumb in a way that he recognized as something his mother had always done. With nothing left to do but watch a movie he hated, Liam shifted his weight around and tried his hardest to fall asleep.

**

“Toilet!” Niall yelled, waking Liam up. Liam jumped and hit his elbow on the couch’s arm.

“We need to get you a diaper,”

“As long as you change me, bud,”

“Here let me get your crutches,”

Niall grabbed onto Liam’s forearm and said, “No, you’re my crutch. Now hurry cuz I’ve really gotta wee,”

Liam slipped off the sofa and as he stood up Niall put his hands for Liam to hold him. Niall truly looked like a child with his hair pushed down into a sweaty fringe. Liam lifted his friend by his armpits and hoisted him up. As he tried to place Niall’s feet on the floor Niall refused to cooperate and wouldn’t stand.

“My bones are jelly, Leemo!” he yelled.

“Niall, come on!”

“Carry me!”

Trying to get to the bathroom quickly, and without any wet pants, Liam hoisted the lad on his shoulder and got him to the toilet only a small way across the room. Niall was surprisingly good at peeing while only standing on one leg, but he still needed to hold onto Liam for support. After washing up Niall inquired about the roast.

“Niall, it’s like one in the morning,”

“Dude we just took a three hour nap I’m not going to bed any time soon, but I am getting hungry so…”

Liam hadn’t even noticed how long they had been asleep. The menu screen was on the TV already.

“Fine, let me just put you down. Have your bones solidified again?”

“I think they might have,” Niall said as he hopped back to the couch, holding on to Liam.

Liam heated up the roast the best he could in the microwave and tried to plate everything as nice as he could on the paper plates Niall had. He figured that if he was reduced to Tesco’s beef then it should at least look pretty. Niall had gotten ahold of his guitar that was leaning against the wall and was playing some Top 40 song that incidentally sounded really good when played acoustically. Something by Beiber, he was pretty sure.

“Here you go, bud,” Liam said as he handed the plate to Niall. Liam got himself a plate too even though he wasn’t hungry. He just didn’t want Niall to eat alone.

Niall dug into the grub furiously. Liam tasted it and, even for Tesco’s, it was rather sub-par. But with Niall it never really mattered. Any food, whether good or bad, was eaten with a passion. If it was edible Niall would enjoy it.

“Fuck, we’ve got so much to do,” Niall mused as he swallowed a lump of mashed potatoes.

“Yeah, great time to eff up your knee, Ni. Why couldn’t you just wait for tour, huh?”

“I’m gonna have to lay off some of my meds so I don’t go sitting around radio stations like everything’s spinning. I hope I’m not utterly moody,”

Liam laughed as he tried to imagine a radio interview where Niall didn’t spend half the time giggling.

“Yeah I’m not particularly looking forward to everything either,” continued Liam.

“Yeah? Why?”

“Well, you know, everyone loves our girlfriends. They’re gonna ask us about them,”

“Hmm?”

“And, like, Danielle?”

“Yeah?”

“Geez Niall I’m still not over it,”

“Really? Couldn’t tell,”

“God, Ni. Usually you’re the first to comfort me over shit like this,”

“Maybe I’m a little pissed that you just overtook my complaint about my knee hurting like shit as I work fourteen-hour days to complain about your broken heart. Jesus Christ we have the Teen Awards in a few days and I’m supposed to perform like my knee didn’t just dislocate,”

“I’m sorry for thinking that I have room to actually be upset about things, too,”

“You do but it’s always so childish, man!” Niall yelled as he slammed his plastic fork on the paper plate.

“What’s your problem?”

“You don’t complain about missing Danielle, Liam, you moan. Constantly! It’s like no one else is allowed to have a bad day because you and missus broke up three weeks ago!”

“She called me today, okay?”

“And did you even fucking answer?”

The answer was in the silence.

“You expect us all to feel sorry for you but you’ve been dragging out this relationship like no other. Every day you mention her. I ate a fucking orange the other day and you pined on about how she had a purse of the same color. Then you were sad for ten minutes and you had to excuse yourself from the meeting. Who the fuck does that?” asked Niall. He was ignoring all his food now.

“I didn’t realize I had to mourn in specific rules!”

“ _Mourn?_ She didn’t die, Liam! It’s love. Love’s awesome then it breaks down then it _sucks._ But it’s a relationship and you have tons of friends who are offering you a shoulder to cry on, but you just sit there for hours wallowing in self-pity and anger. You don’t even try to feel better!”

“What are you on about? Are you seriously saying that I’m not really trying to get over her?

“That’s exactly what I’m saying!”

“Bull-fucking-shit! And you know it, Horan!”

“You’ve been going out with Danielle for so long that you’ve completely forgotten how to live without her,”

“That’s enough!”

“You shaved your head because like some kind of child you thought that all you needed to get through drama was to change yourself,”

“I didn’t fucking sign up for this,”

“Every time you mention her the room gets silent and awkward. You called her a bitch the other day, Jesus Christ. Eleanor hates being around you because you give her all these weird looks because they’re still friends. She doesn’t hate you, bro, she hates heartbroken-you. And who wouldn’t?”

“Enough!” Liam yelled as he kicked the coffee table in front of him. Niall’s foot was resting on it and the impact was enough for him to jerk his leg. He grabbed his knee in front of him as it writhed with pain.

After a few seconds Liam gathered their plates and took them into the kitchen to clean up a bit. Everything needed to be neat and orderly just like Niall liked it. Niall picked up the guitar again and played the same song, but the notes sounded shakier.

Liam returned to the sofa and saw that Niall was trembling with tears welling up his eyes.

“Niall, seriously, are you okay?”

“It’s not you, dingbat. You couldn’t ever make me cry. It’s my knee,”

“When was the last time you had your meds?”

“I don’t know…six?”

“Jesus, you could’ve had some a few hours ago. Here, let me get them,”

“While you’re up could you grab an ice pack from the freezer?” Niall asked softly. Liam noticed an audible tremble in his voice.

“Yeah…no problem,”

Niall swallowed the pills eagerly and even though they couldn’t have possibly started to work yet, they seemed to calm him. The ice was helping, too.

Liam sat back down in his seat. Niall leaned over and rested his head in the crook of Liam’s neck. Niall wasn’t one to stay mad for long.

“She called today. She called today and I didn’t answer because I was scared of Danielle,” continued Liam.

Niall sat in silence.

“I was scared that she’d be angry or sad or annoyed or something that I would feel responsible for. But it was worse. She sounded the same,”

“It’s not like she doesn’t miss you,” Niall said as he started to play with Liam’s sweatshirt strings.

“And I didn’t pick up the phone and I was a coward. She left a message and there was a knot in my stomach the entire time I was listening to it. She’s coming over to my place after I leave here to pick up some stuff she’s left. And I can’t tell you how much I dread going back,”

“So you called her?”

“Not even. I texted her. She texted me back just saying ‘okay,’”

“You can’t be mad at her for not being the best communicator, mate,”

“I know. I’m not. I’m not, really! It’s just, she took everything of hers when she left and this stupid box of spandex in the upstairs closet was the only thing I had left,”

“Maybe you would’ve had more if you didn’t throw all the stuff you bought that reminded you of her in the dumpster,”

Liam smiled.

“But I’m afraid that she’s gonna show up at my door and look exactly the same as she did when she left it those weeks ago. She’ll still be wearing that red cardigan and those tight jeans and those ballet flats that we bought in Piccadilly and carrying that dance bag. She’ll look the same, but she’ll look at me and everything will have changed. My hair’s gone; I don’t know where I shoved those clothes I wore that night. I could have thrown them away I just don’t know. My face will be a mess because I probably will have been crying considering the rate I’m going on now, and it’ll be sad, not angry. I’m afraid only half of the people in this stupid relationship changed after we broke up, and it’s not for the better,”

“You just told me a story,”

“What?”

“You’re upset about something in your head. You’re miserable over something that didn’t happen yet, probably won’t, but you’ve convinced yourself it will! You can’t do that!”

Liam was the silent one now.

“Just because she sounded like a _normal person_ on the phone doesn’t mean she’s been taking this whole thing lightly. You know her. She’s passionate and emotional. I’ve never seen someone cry so hard at _Click_ , man. Maybe Harry, I don’t know. All I know is that you need to calm down and you can’t delay going to see her after you leave. The second you leave my flat you need to call her,”

“I know,”

“And it’s going to suck and it’s going to hurt but get over it. You haven’t seen her in _how long_?”

“But what…what if it’s my last chance to see her?”

“It’s not,”

“But what if it is?”

“Then embrace it,”

They were silent again.

“Yeah,” said Liam softly after a few seconds had passed.

“I’m getting tired. Will you carry me to my bed?”

“Of course, yeah,”

Liam stood up and cradled Niall like a small baby. He had done this a few times before, most notably when Niall was younger and a few inches shorter, but he was still small enough for Liam to manage.

In his bed Niall stripped off his shirt and sweatpants. For the first time since it happened, Liam saw the bum knee and cringed at the sight of it. It was swollen and red and still looked rather misshapen. Niall shivered as he tried to gingerly pull his clothes over it.

“Do you want me to leave?” asked Liam.

“No! You’re tired; I can see it in your eyes. Lay down with me. Go to bed. There’s more than enough room for us,”

Liam lied down next to Niall and could hear him quickly drift off to sleep. Although he hardly felt tired, the next thing he knew it was five in the morning and Niall and he had shifted closer. Their shoulders were touching, and he was left wondering which one of them had felt that they needed the other in the middle of the night.

Liam saw the bright light of his phone screen and saw what had woken him up: Zayn had texted him saying that he was there. Liam was relieved of his duties. He walked out to the entry and buzzed Zayn in as he gathered his stuff.

To his surprise, both Harry and Zayn walked through the door.

“How’s our little Nialler?” asked Harry.

“Sleeping, thankfully. He’s out like a rock. Zayn are you really up at 5?” replied Liam.

“I was planning to just get into Niall’s bed and go back to sleep until he woke up, honestly,” answered Zayn.

“Do you think all three of us can fit on the bed?” asked Harry.

“It’s not like we haven’t done it before,” answered Zayn.

“Okay, well, he took his medicine before he went to sleep so he’s due for some when he gets up. He didn’t finish his food before he went down so he’ll probably be hungry. But he’s always hungry so I’m betting you were expecting that. Uh, we tried to watch _The Godfather_ but he fell asleep so he’s probably itching to finish it. Anything I forgot?”

“Oh yeah, when was the last time you changed him?” Harry asked, mockingly.

“Actually, he hasn’t gone wee in a few hours so you’ll have to deal with that, too. Watch him, he’ll probably make you carry him,”

“Thanks, Mom, but I think we can do fine from here,” joked Zayn.

Liam smiled as he was about to leave, but remembered one last thing.

“Oh, and tell him I did it. I listened to him,”

“What did you do?” asked Zayn.

“Nothing. He’ll get it. See you boys later!” Liam said as he finally closed the door.

It was early, not yet 5:30, but he knew Danielle would be up. She was up at all odd hours to get to dance practices. He called her. He couldn’t believe he was calling her, but he was.

“Yeah?” she answered.

“I’m done at Niall’s. I should be home in twenty. Do you have enough time to swing by before rehearsals?”

“Yeah it should be fine. I’ll be there,”

“Bye,”

“Bye,”

**

Liam heard the three small knocks on the door that he knew were Danielle’s. They were barely audible, but she wasn’t one to make a lot of noise.

He opened the door and there she was. Her hair was pulled back into a bun and she was in an oversized sweatshirt and capri leggings. Her dance bag was probably in the car. But he also noticed that her face seemed off. It was puffy. It looked like she was tired, and maybe had been crying. She invited herself in, he expected no less. He handed her the bag of her clothes, a few words were exchanged, and she was gone.

Liam didn’t want to say that seeing her upset felt good, because it didn’t, but he realized how stupid he had been. She was human and had emotions and he wasn’t some special snowflake - the sole human on earth who felt emotions. He laughed to himself and he walked to his bed and flopped down on it, hard. He sent Niall a quick text: “Better then expectedddd,”

He fell asleep again and only woke up a few hours later as his phone buzzed.

“Told you, :p”


End file.
